More details on Corvette-bound LT5 V-8

Details of a naturally-aspirated 6.2-liter V-8 featuring a DOHC design has appeared in a document posted recently on a General Motors Company [NYSE:GM] service website. GM has removed the document but not before a Reddit user was able to take a screen shot of the page the engine was listed on.

According to the document, the engine features the code name “LT5,” a name that we learned in September GM has trademarked. The engine is also said to feature GM’s SIDI direct fuel injection technology, variable valve timing and aluminum construction.

The document also reveals that the engine will be offered for the 2018 model year and in a Corvette model. (The “Y” in the document is a book code that highlights which model line the engine is bound for, and book code Y corresponds to the Corvette.)

The LT5 name will be familiar to Corvette fans as it is the name of a 5.7-liter V-8, also with a DOHC design, that featured in the C4 Corvette ZR-1. More recently, the LT5 name has appeared on the website of GM’s performance engine builder Katech, where it was linked with a C8 Corvette model called the Zora.

The LT5 name also suggests the next member of the current LT family of small-block V-8s from GM. The LT4, found in the C7 Corvette Z06 as well as the Camaro ZL1 and Cadillac CTS-V, is a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 delivering as much as 650 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque.

There are two leading possibilities for the initial application of the new LT5 engine. One is a C7 Corvette range-topper thought to be a new ZR1. This would make sense as GM’s last LT5 engine was also used in a ZR1 model—and this C7 Corvette range-topper is due for the 2018 model year, when the engine is due.

The other possibility is the mid-engine C8 Corvette, although this model isn’t expected to be launched until the 2019 model year. A prototype is shown above.